In a move that came hours after the release of personnel files detailing years of alleged abuse by Los Angeles priests, Archbishop José H. Gomez announced Thursday night that Thomas Curry, Mahony's longtime top aide, was also resigning as regional bishop of Santa Barbara.

The files indicated that Mahony and other top archdiocese officials maneuvered behind the scenes for years to protect molester priests.

Mahony will "no longer have any administrative or public duties," Gomez said in a statement.

NBC 4 of Los Angeles reported that as Mahony's vicar for clergy, Curry assigned priests and deacons and was responsible for promoting "spiritual and physical well-being" for all priests and deacons in the archdiocese.

Mahony was head of the Los Angeles archdiocese from 1985 to 2011, when Gomez succeeded him.

"I find these files to be brutal and painful reading," Gomez wrote in a letter to parishioners. "The behavior described in these files is terribly sad and evil. There is no excuse, no explaining away what happened to these children."